Warming up to the Pluriverse #5: On celebrating smallness

In the fifth talk we meet up online with architect/researcher Sean Leonard, part of Co-RD Limited, and co-founder of Alice Yard, a contemporary art space located in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, which hosts and facilitates an ongoing programme of artists and artists’ projects, where networking, collaboration, improvisation and play are key. In 2020 Leonard was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Tilting Axis Fellowship made possible among others by Het Nieuwe Instituut. This position includes collaborations with the Amsterdam Museum, De Appel, The Black Archives and FKA Witte de With / Melly. This is also how ‘In Search of the Pluriverse’ and Leonard crossed paths. A vivid talk about heritage, the yard as a space of play and negotiation, swamp lodges and stilt walkers.

References

• Tilting Axis Fellowship 2020 Jury Report
  tiltingaxisfellowship.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en/…hip
• Sean Leonard’s online archive & journal
  korjaal-ing.space
• Alice Yard
  aliceyard.blogspot.com/
• Caribbean Beat, Issue 141, MEP Publishers
  Sean Leonard: “Artists, this space is available” | Caribbean Beat Magazine; www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-141/sea…ixzz6couWBUsp
• 1962, year of independence of Trinidad
  (The video below is a classic piece of footage for many Trinbagonians)
  www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVlcBLX6UHU
• First Peoples I.
  Arie Boomert, The Indigenous Peoples of Trinidad and Tobago from the First Settlers
  until Today. Leiden, The Netherlands: Sidestone Press, 2016.
  www.sidestone.com/books/the-indige…nidad-and-tobago
• First Peoples II.
  Tracy Assing
  www.bocaslitfest.com/author/tracy-assing/
• First Peoples III.
  Arawak and Caribs First Peoples
  (Although a short article, Sean Leonard found this reference useful as it puts on the table the issue of the convenient and contrived narratives about the the indigenous peoples by the colonisers)
  blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropolo…umbus-met/
• Capuchin missionaries - from the Fransiscan order of roman catholic priests
  (The Capuchins arose in 1525 with the purpose of returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi in 1209. The activities of the Capuchins were not confined to Europe. From an early date they undertook missions to non-Catholics in America, Asia and Africa, and a College was founded in Rome for the purpose of preparing their members for foreign missions.)
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Fr…s_Minor_Capuchin
• Place names and languages of indigenous descent in Trinidad
  sta.uwi.edu/stan/article13.asp
• Hosay Yard Festival
  www.triniview.com/hosay/2706051.html
• Woodwork & Belmont neighborhoods, Port of Spain, Trinidad
  www.instagram.com/p/B7ymEvFpqGS/?u…ig_web_copy_link
• The little Carib Theatre by Beryl Mc Burnie
  www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-20/bery…st-lady-dance
• 1000 Moko Jumbie project by Kriston Chen
  caribbeanlinked.com/editions/caribb…s/kriston-chen/
• Ndyuka Maroons in Suriname
  www.mpm.edu/research-collection…ons-research/ndyuka
• Dénètem Touam Bona, « Cosmo-poétique du refuge, Comment les esclaves en fuite ont réinventé la liberté », Z Revue itinérante d’enquête et de critique sociale, n°12 Guyane Trésors et conquêtes, 2018, available online at :
  www.terrestres.org/2019/01/15/cosm…ique-du-refuge/
• On art and social practice in Trinidad (not discussed but interesting further reading)
  articulatecaribbean.com/50-50/

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